The winds tonight have been extraordinary...particularly over the NW portion of the state and over Puget Sound. Gust have been as high as 40-55 mph at Bellingham, Friday Harbor and the East Strait Buoy, and with temperatures in the lower 20s, the wind chills are below zero. Here is the latest gusts from Friday Harbor...just amazing...over 50 mph.
There have been substantial number of trees and branches knocked down by the strong northerlies and several power outages have been reported (see example below from city light)
I biked home today and it was an intense experience--rarely bicycle in blizzard, and sometimes whiteout, conditions.
The big issue now is cold, wind, and icing. The northerlies pushed down late this afternoon and the associated cold temperatures rapidly froze up bridges, since there is little conduction of heat from below. With temperatures in the mid to low 20s and dry air the slush, snow, water mixture at the surface will completely freeze tonight, except where sufficient deicer has been applied.
Tomorrow should be clear and sunny...but cold. However, if the snow is removed from roads then the sun will finish the melting and the highways will improve rapidly.
